The Internet of Things (IoT) may be described as a network of physical objects or “things” embedded with various types of electronics, software, sensors, logic, circuitry, etc., that can collect and exchange data. A “thing” (referred to herein as an “IoT device” or, alternatively, a “machine-type communication (MTC) device”) may connect to a service hosted on the Internet indirectly (e.g., via another network device, such as a coordinator, a gateway, etc.) or directly. Since IoT technology has nearly limitless applications that can be leveraged to form new and useful services, interest among service providers and developers in IoT technology continues to increase. In many instances, IoT data is useful to individual consumers for monitoring, alerts, historical trends, etc., related to individual devices. In other cases, IoT data can be used by the device makers or service entities associated with each IoT device for monitoring their products or services. Data models may provide a structure for organizing, interpreting, and/or applying IoT data. For example, data models may be used for managing and retrieving observations and metadata from IoT devices.